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Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News media information 202 / 418-0500
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Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 202/418-2555


This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2000

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Maureen Peratino at (202) 418-0506

FCC V-CHIP TASK FORCE RELEASES UPDATED SURVEY ON THE ENCODING OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING


Washington, DC -- Last week marked the beginning of a new age for parents who want to protect their children from television programming they deem objectionable. On January 1, 2000, the "V-Chip" became required equipment in virtually all television sets sold in the U.S. The V-Chip permits parents to program their television sets to block out violent, sexual or other programming they don't want their children to see.

"The V-Chip is not a substitute for parents," said Commissioner Gloria Tristani, Chair of the FCC's V-Chip Task Force. "It's a modern tool that will help parents do their job in a modern world." A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children spend far more time with television than any other medium, and that the vast majority of that time is unsupervised. "The V-Chip is essentially a long-range `remote control' that lets parents block programming that they do not want their children to see, even when they can't be there to turn it off themselves," Tristani said.

The Federal Communications Commission's V-Chip Task Force was established in May 1999. The Task Force has been working with equipment manufacturers and retailers, cable and broadcast programming producers, parents and other groups to ensure the effective implementation of the V-Chip.

One of the Task Force's primary goals is to ensure that the TV ratings information needed for the V-Chip to operate is actually being encoded and transmitted by programming distributors. In July 1999, the Task Force released an initial survey that found that most of the top broadcast and cable networks were encoding, and that many others planned to begin encoding in Fall 1999.

Today the V-Chip Task Force is releasing a survey update. The updated survey finds, among other things, that:

  • The six largest broadcast networks are currently encoding their programming; all other broadcast networks surveyed are planning to encode. PBS and PAXNET, which were planning to encode by Fall 1999, have slipped to April 2000 and the year 2000, respectively.

  • Most of the largest basic cable networks are already encoding their programming; most of those not encoding are exempt news or sports networks. Comedy Central, which in the prior survey did not expect to begin encoding until the second quarter of 2000, began encoding in November 1999. Food Network, which was planning to encode by Fall 1999, slipped to February 2000.

  • Four of the top five premium cable networks are encoding their programming; the remaining network is planning to encode by the first quarter of 2000.

  • All syndicators among the distributors of the top 25 syndicated programs are currently encoding their programming.

"This is good news for parents," said V-Chip Task Force Chair Gloria Tristani. "Virtually all the major networks and syndicators are now encoding, so when parents buy a TV set equipped with a V-Chip, they can be confident that it will work as advertised."

For the updated survey, the Task Force once again surveyed the top broadcast networks, basic cable networks, premium cable networks and syndicators to determine whether they are encoding and transmitting ratings information on Line 21 of the Vertical Blanking Interval. Syndicators were included in the survey because not all broadcast programming is network originated, and it appears that local broadcasters are relying on syndicated programming distributors to encode such programming. Copies of the July 1999 survey and the January 2000 update are attached.

Another of the Task Force's primary goals is to educate parents about the V-Chip. In this regard, the top four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) have all begun to run public service announcements to inform parents about the V-Chip and how it works with the TV ratings system. "The networks should be commended for their efforts to inform parents that the V-Chip has arrived and how they can use it in their everyday lives," said Commissioner Tristani. "I'm especially pleased that many of these PSAs are being run during the networks' prime-time programming when more parents are watching."

- FCC -




Follow-Up Report of the V-Chip Task Force
of the Federal Communications Commission
on the
Encoding of Television Ratings Information
for Use With the V-Chip




January 11, 2000




In May 1999, Federal Communications Commission Chairman William E. Kennard established a V-Chip Task Force, chaired by Commissioner Gloria Tristani. The Task Force has been working with equipment manufacturers and retailers, cable and broadcast programming producers, parents and other groups to ensure the effective implementation of the V-Chip.

One of the Task Force's primary goals is to ensure that the TV ratings information needed for the V-Chip to operate is actually being encoded and transmitted by programming distributors. Today's report describes the status of that goal. The V-Chip Task Force has surveyed the top broadcast networks, basic cable networks, premium cable networks and syndicators to determine whether they are encoding and transmitting ratings information on Line 21 of the Vertical Blanking Interval. Syndicators were included in the survey because not all broadcast programming is network originated, and it appears that local broadcasters are relying on syndicated programming distributors to encode such programming.

The Task Force's survey finds, among other things, that: